


Lilies in Carbonite: Outtakes from the Corellian Lilies AU

by lajulie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Babies, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-06 04:04:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8734228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lajulie/pseuds/lajulie
Summary: A series of outtakes, background stories, and side stories from the AU created in Corellian Lilies. Leia and Han conceived a daughter, Lilya Organa-Solo, on the way to Bespin. These stories take place while her father is still trapped in carbonite.





	1. Flirting with Corellians

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Corellian Lilies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8285279) by [lajulie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lajulie/pseuds/lajulie). 



Mornings were the worst.

For the last few months, Leia had been having vivid dreams about Han. Sometimes the one with them on the platform at Bespin, but more often lately, various versions of their nights together on the _Falcon_. The night they got buzzed on whiskey and ended up half naked in the lounge before moving to the cabin. The night they reenacted the kissing session in the circuitry bay, this time without droid interruptions. That time in the cockpit. That other time in the shower. And not always sex, either. Some of the dreams were just about kissing. Lots and lots of kissing.

Each morning, Leia woke up in her bunk, practically panting with desire. And alone.

Well, not completely alone. In her belly, her daughter swam around, doing backflips and whatever else it was babies did in there. And, of course, kicking her in the bladder until she got up.

Leia hoisted herself out of the bunk and used the ‘fresher for the first of what promised to be many times today. She looked at herself in the small mirror above the sink. _Nothing like having sex dreams when you’re alone and look like a worn out bulwhark_.

It wasn’t just the dreams, though. Mornings were when the loneliness was the worst, when she woke up longing for Han’s arms around her, for the feel of his stubble grazing her neck, “Mornin’, sweetheart” in his slow drawl. Amazing, how in fewer than six weeks, she’d become used to a whole new routine. And how, eight months later, she still wasn’t used to her mornings without him.

She wasn’t anyone’s sweetheart here. She had to be The Princess again. So she got dressed, braided her hair, and headed to the mess for breakfast.

Wedge Antilles sidled up next to her in line. “Missed you at sabacc last night, Commander.” He wore a teasing expression. “Ditched us for a hot date?”

She laughed. “Right. A hot date with some datapads.” She’d fallen asleep at the desk in her quarters, researching some new intelligence information, and had dragged herself to her bunk after waking up in the middle of the night amid a pile of datapads.

He took her tray and guided her over to where the other Rogues were eating. “Still doing research?”

“Yeah.” She set herself down next to Wedge and across from Hobbie and Janson.

Hobbie grinned at her. “Mornin’, Your Highness. Antilles owes you a drink.”

Leia smiled, but she was confused. “A drink?”

“We were playing Drunk Sabacc last night. We decided that whoever was out first had to buy you a drink, since you weren’t there,” Janson explained.

That explanation hadn’t really cleared anything up, and Leia couldn’t resist a little good-natured ribbing. “Drunk Sabacc? Isn’t that what you play every night?”

“More _official_ drinking,” Hobbie explained. “Every time you draw a card, you take a drink. First one to trip up on a hand is out.”

Leia took a drink of her kaffe and turned to Wedge. “So, are you buying me blue milk, kaffe, or tea? My options are a bit limited right now.”

“Mmm, maybe I’ll surprise you.” Wedge was looking at her with a gleam in his eye, and Leia found herself nearly blushing. “You know us Corellians,” he said.

“Some better than others,” cracked Hobbie.

 

* * *

 

After breakfast, Wedge had offered to swing by Leia’s quarters to pick her up before the Rogues’ sabacc game that evening. “In case you get trapped in a loveless marriage with some datapads,” he’d said. She’d chuckled and accepted. The intelligence research was wearing on her, she could tell, and everyone was already trying to get her to slow down and reduce her workload anyway, now that the baby was mere weeks away. Luke, her usual anchor, was off on a mission. Maybe a little downtime with the Rogues would help.

Sure enough, Leia was deep into another round of research when Wedge knocked on her door that evening.

“Hey, _Commander_ ,” he greeted, as she opened the door. _Funny how he can make my military title sound flirtatious,_ Leia thought _._

“Commander,” she returned, smiling. “You’re early.”

“Not interrupting, am I?”

“Not really.” She let him in and waved toward the pile of datapads on the desk. “My eyes were starting to glaze over anyway. I think I just read the same sentence six times.”

Wedge had been hiding a bottle of something behind his back. He pulled it out and presented it to Leia. “Thought I could make good on that drink I owe you,” he said.

Leia looked at the bottle and gasped. “Sparkling callaberry juice?” She sat down, overwhelmed. She hadn’t seen a bottle of this in years.

Wedge grinned. “Told you I’d surprise you.”

Leia was examining the bottle, still blown away. Callaberries had been common on Alderaan, but were rare in other parts of the galaxy. “Where’d you find this?” she asked.

Wedge was cagey. “Oh, I have my sources.” She raised an eyebrow at him, and he immediately caved. “Okay, I got it from Dansra.”

Leia chuckled at the look on his face: _That wasn’t_ all _I got from Dansra_ , it said. _Good for her_ , Leia thought, smiling a little wickedly.

Wedge saw her expression and suddenly looked a bit sheepish. “I didn’t say that out loud, did I?”

Leia chuckled again. “You didn’t have to.” She turned back to the bottle. “Shall we open this up? I have glasses in the locker over there.”

“Sure.” Wedge grabbed two glasses and put them on the table near Leia’s chair, then took the bottle from her to open it. “Commander. Allow me,” he said.

The cork gave a satisfying pop, and the callaberry juice immediately exploded out of the top of the bottle and began to rush over the sides. “Oh, no!” Wedge exclaimed, as Leia giggled, trying to catch as much of the juice in her glass as she could before it foamed onto the floor. Wedge quickly realized that pouring the juice would help, and was trying to balance the bottle and his glass while pouring juice into Leia’s glass as well. Leia grabbed the bottle from him and, without thinking, tried to catch the remaining juice in her mouth as it ran over the side of the bottle.

The foaming settled down, and Leia put the bottle down on the floor. They looked at each other and both burst out laughing.

“We’re a mess,” Wedge said. Between the sparkling juice foaming over and the explosion when he’d popped the cork, Wedge seemed to have caught an impressive amount of the juice on himself. Leia reached up and wiped a bit of excess juice off his forehead. “Did you get it in your hair?” she asked.

“I think so,” he laughed. “You did, too,” he said, touching one of her braids gently.

Leia shook her head, still laughing. “Sorry, I forgot that it does that sometimes,” she said. “We used to open it with a towel over it, to keep that from happening.” She made a motion like she was preparing to get up. “I’ve got towels we can use in the ‘fresher.”

Wedge stopped her. “No, I got it. You stay there. Lick the rest off the bottle if you like,” he said, winking at her as he headed toward the ‘fresher. Leia blushed. She was hoping he hadn’t noticed her doing that.

He returned with a few towels and a wet washcloth. “These okay to use?”

“Yeah, those are fine.”

Wedge put one towel on the floor to mop up the juice, then handed one of the towels to Leia as he dried himself with the other. After drying herself off, she used the washcloth to wipe the juice off her face, then brought the washcloth to Wedge’s face to wipe a few drops from his brow. Her hand lingered, for just a moment, at his cheek, and he smiled at her.

He picked up his glass and sat in the chair next to Leia. “To sweet, sparkling messes,” he said. She laughed and clinked his glass with hers before taking a drink.

“We’re going to be the talk of the sabacc table,” Leia chuckled, “covered in juice like we’re trying to win a wet skivvies contest.”

Wedge took another drink. “We should lay bets on what jokes they’ll make. ‘You were supposed to buy her a drink, not douse her in it.’”

“How about, ‘That’s one way to get a girl wet!’”

“Yes! And Janson will try a joke that doesn’t quite work, like a nickname or something. ‘Your Royal Foaminess.’”

“’The Last Juice of Alderaan.’ We need a terrible nickname for you, though.”

“Premature Ejuicination.”

Leia laughed again. “Perfect.”

They sat back and sipped their drinks for a few minutes.

“Y’know, we don’t have to go play sabacc tonight. We could just stay here and pretend to get drunk on this,” Wedge suggested.

Leia wasn’t sure whether he was serious or not, but she played along. “Continue to make terrible sexual innuendos involving juice metaphors.”

“I feel like we’d branch out eventually. Y’know, to terrible sexual innuendos _not_ involving juice metaphors.” Wedge took another drink. “Mmm. I’m not a juice person, but this is really good.”

Leia looked over at him. “It is. Thanks for bringing it to me. I can’t remember the last time I had it.” She looked a bit wistful.

Wedge smiled. “My pleasure. It’s the least I could do for a beautiful woman like you.” He threw her a flirtatious glance.

Leia laughed. “I’ll bet you say that to all the giant pregnant ladies.”

His eyes were twinkling. “No, Commander. Just you.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips.

She looked at him, both amused and intrigued. “Wedge Antilles, are you trying to seduce me?” she teased.

He gave her a look that was teasing and rather smoldering at the same time. “Is it working?”

They looked at each other for a long moment. Leia wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen.

Wedge gently brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “You know that Solo is _ridiculously_ in love with you, right?”

“I know.” Leia was deeply grateful that Wedge had used the present tense.

“Good.” He kissed her forehead. “You’ll get him back, Leia. You know what they say about us Corellians.”

“Rocket fuel for blood?”

“The odds don’t apply.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Corellian Lilies:  
>  "Wait a second -- is she...flirting with him?"
> 
> Yes, Han. She was.


	2. All Bets Are On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia has a question that her fellow sabacc players would rather not answer.

“So, I have a question,” began Leia, taking a sip of blue milk as Tycho started dealing the next hand. “Who won the bet?”

The Rogues exchanged glances.

“Bet?” Janson attempted innocence. “What bet?”

Leia looked at him, her eyebrow raised. “I think you know what bet.”

Silence, then another exchange of glances.

“Oh, come on. I mean, it was obviously settled awhile ago,” she said, gesturing to her pregnant belly, “so what’s the harm in telling me who won now?”

The men around the table looked at each other again nervously. Rieekan especially looked like he was starting to regret accepting the invitation to sit in on the Rogues’ game tonight.

Leia looked pointedly at Luke. “You can tell me,” she said.

Luke’s normally placid demeanor was showing some cracks. “Well, Leia, the thing is….”

A light went off in Leia’s head. “There were multiple bets, weren’t there?”

“Uh, yeah.” Luke looked apologetic.

Leia grinned deviously. “Interesting. Well, I think we can start with what the bets were.” She looked around the table. “Wedge?”

He looked at her sheepishly. “Well…one of the bets was about when.”

“When as defined by what? I mean, how do you decide who won?”

“When…you finally got together. So either one of you admitted it or…we had proof that something had happened.”

“And who won that one?”

“Hobbie.”

Hobbie suddenly found his cards extremely interesting.

“Hmm.” Leia sipped her blue milk thoughtfully. “Janson?”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“I think we can dispense with the formalities. Care to tell me about another of the bets?”

No, Janson did not. But he was a little afraid of Leia. “Uh…there was a bet about, uh…” He didn’t really want to say it. “How far things, uh, went.”

“Ah. Well, obviously, things went…pretty far,” she said, gesturing again to her belly. “And who was the winner?”

“Wedge.”

“Antilles,” she said, raising an eyebrow and nodding, with a slight smile. “Well, you know what they say about Corellians....”

Leia had managed to make Wedge blush. That didn’t happen often.

“Carlist.”

“Yes?” Rieekan had on his best sabacc face.

“Were there other bets?”

“One more that I recall.” He grinned. “About what would be Solo’s next excuse for staying.”

Leia looked at him. “Really? You had a bet about that?”

“The man claimed to be ‘leaving soon’ for three years,” Tycho pointed out. “Eventually he was going to run out of believable reasons to stay.”

Rieekan laughed. “I’m not sure anyone was buying his reasons anymore. Thus the bet.”

Leia took another drink of blue milk and smiled. _Well, I guess I won that one_.


	3. Meeting Lilya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby Lilya's first moments with a few of the most important people in her life.

Luke was the first one – besides Leia, of course – to meet her. He’d earned it; while he hadn’t personally _done_ the 18 hours of labor, he’d been there for nearly all of it. Coaching Leia, holding her hand, trying not to laugh at the colorful combination of Corellian and Alderaani curses coming out of her mouth, and supporting her as best he could, both with his words and through the Force.

They didn’t need to meditate to feel Han this time. His light was somehow present in the room, even though they knew he was systems away from them, still in hibernation.

After the medical droids had checked the baby over, the medic laid her on Leia’s chest, and Luke rested his hand lightly on the baby’s head. He felt her presence thrumming through the Force, a pure burst of light. Strangely, he felt a similar connection to the one he felt with Leia – that undefinable something that said, _you are a part of me_. He suspected it had something to do with how much he loved both her parents.

He felt his eyes get wet. Leia looked at him, tears in her eyes as well.

“Do you want to hold her?” she asked.

Yes. Yes, he did.

 

* * *

 

“She’s so tiny!”

“You lucked out, kid, got the Princess’s good looks.”

“I know, can you imagine if the poor kid looked like Solo?”

“I still can’t believe how small she is!”

“How soon before we get her in an X-wing?”

“Forget that, how soon before she’s kicking our asses at sabacc?” 

The Rogues were in a swarm around the bassinet. Luke was directing traffic; Leia was laughing from the bed next to them.

“Before you hold her, you have to wash your hands,” Luke insisted.

The swarm practically tripped over each other on the way to the ‘fresher.

 

* * *

 

“Lelila,” Carlist Rieekan said, looking down lovingly at the little bundle in his arms, “she looks just like you did.”

His thoughts were on a balcony at the palace in Aldera, twenty-three years ago. He’d been awakened in the middle of the night with word that Bail’s ship had signaled, and that additional security detail would be needed. It had been a tense few days, with word of unrest in Coruscant, the Jedi temple apparently in flames, and Bail’s whereabouts temporarily unknown. Then, Bail had emerged from the ship holding a tiny infant. A war orphan, Rieekan was told, who would now become the Princess of Alderaan.

Carlist remembered the look of wonder and love in Breha Organa’s eyes as Bail handed Leia to her, her long-awaited dream of a daughter finally realized.

He looked over at the Princess now and saw the same expression that had been on Bail’s face that day. So much loss, so much sorrow, but for this daughter, joy.

 

* * *

 

_Leia, are you awake?_

_Luke? What’s wrong?_

Leia’s comm buzzed.

“Nothing’s wrong, Leia,” Luke said when she answered. “I just didn’t want to wake you up if you and Lilya were sleeping. They just called me from the docking bay. The _Falcon_ requested clearance to land.”

_Chewie._

“I’ll—we’ll be right there,” Leia said.

“You don’t have to run down there – if you’re still up, I’ll meet them and bring them to you.”

Leia paused. It was true, she’d just gotten Lilya to sleep a little while ago. Packing her up and rushing to the hangar in the middle of the night was not particularly appealing. “Okay. But just Chewie. Lando can see her tomorrow.” Leia had mostly forgiven Lando, but Chewie had more than earned the right to meet Han’s daughter first. And by himself.

“Understood. I’ll comm you when we’re on our way to you.”

“Thanks, Luke.”

Leia put a robe on, started some tea, and waited for Chewie.

About twenty minutes later, Luke let her know they were on their way, and about five minutes after that, Leia was enveloped in a giant Wookiee hug.

<<Little Princess,>> Chewie growled, trying to keep his voice low. <<I’ve missed you.>>

“I’ve missed you too, Chewie,” Leia clutched at him. Chewie might be the only other being who understood how hard it was to be without Han. And he was her dear friend in his own right.

<<You’re doing all right? You look good.>>

“You’re very kind. Yes, I’m fine.”

<<She’s sleeping?>>

“Yes, right over here.” She brought Chewie to the crib where Lilya lay. They watched her for a minute.

<<Little Jedi said you should be the one to tell me her name.>>

“It’s Lilya. Lilya Breha Organa-Solo.”

<<Lovely. Little Flower.>> Chewie gave Leia another, smaller hug.

“Do you want to hold her?”

<<Are you sure? I don’t want to wake her up.>>

“It’s okay. She’ll wake up to nurse pretty soon anyway.” Leia reached down and gently picked up her daughter, then gave her to Chewie.

Leia knew that Chewbacca’s paws were well used to dealing with delicate things – if nothing else, from fixing the _Falcon’s_ rather temperamental inner workings. But watching him with Lilya, she was quietly amazed at how carefully he held the baby in his giant paws. He was making a low, comforting sound that Leia had never heard from him before, almost like a purr.

<<Little Princess, she is beautiful.>>

“Thank you.”

He looked at her. <<I need to tell you something very serious,>> he said.

Leia braced herself. She wasn’t really ready to hear bad news about Han.

<<Cub asked me to take care of you. You may not be bonded, but you are his mate. And now Little Flower is here. You are Cub’s family now. No matter what happens, you and Little Flower are part of my life debt too. Always.>>

“Oh, Chewie.” Leia was overwhelmed. She hugged him and buried her face in his fur.

He held Lilya in one paw and used the other to gently ruffle her hair. <<I’ll tell you what I tell Cub.>>

“Which is?”

<<I’m responsible for you now, so don’t fuck it up.>>

Leia laughed and hugged him again.


	4. The Baby Whisperer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New mother Leia is about at the end of her rope. A certain Rogue Squadron pilot throws her a lifeline.

Wedge had a simple mission: to collect Leia for her first sabacc game with the Rogues since having Lilya two weeks ago. She’d mostly been holed up in her quarters with the baby, and frankly, the Rogues missed her. “Tell her we need to lose some money to her again,” advised Tycho.

But like any good commander, Wedge knew when to abort the original mission and pursue an alternate battle plan.

The fact that it took several minutes for Leia to answer the door was the first signal that something was off. When she finally appeared, she had managed a smile, but her face was pale and tired, and she was fruitlessly trying to calm a crying Lilya. Honestly, Leia looked a little like she was going to cry herself.

Wedge came in and immediately held his arms out towards the baby. “May I?” he asked Leia.

“Sure,” Leia said, handing her squalling daughter over. She was at her wit’s end, although she still couldn’t help watching Lilya protectively to make sure Wedge held her correctly.

But Wedge confidently took Lilya in his arms and began talking to her in soothing tones, holding her up so he could look directly at her face. He appeared wholly unfazed by her crying and flailing, which had been driving Leia to distraction over the last few hours.

“Got a blanket?” he asked. Leia grabbed a thin blanket from the changing area and handed it to him. In a matter of moments, he laid the blanket down on a chair, put Lilya on top, and wrapped her up tightly, like she was the filling in an Ormachek dumpling. Picking her up again in her little bundle, he gently rocked her and made shushing noises until she quieted down. He put her over his shoulder, lightly patting her back as he walked around. Lilya’s eyelids fluttered, and she finally went to sleep.

Leia stood gaping at Wedge, thoroughly astonished. “How did you _do_ that?” she asked.

Wedge smiled. “Got two older sisters. Four nieces, three nephews. Had a little practice helping out.”

Leia sat down, but she was still a little in awe. “You’re, like, the baby whisperer.”

“My ma would love to hear you say that,” he chuckled, taking a seat beside her. “She been crying long?”

“The whole. Kriffing. Day.” Leia sighed. “I might be losing my mind.”

Wedge reached over and gave Leia a quick hug with one arm, still holding Lilya in the other. “That’s what you get for taking up with a stubborn Corellian. A stubborn Corellian baby.”

“Half-Corellian,” Leia corrected. She smiled and leaned back in the chair, stretching a bit.

“But full-blooded stubborn.”

Leia gave him a light shove with her elbow, and he laughed.

He put the sleeping Lilya in his lap and gently touched her cheek. “She’s lovely. Just like her mother.”

Leia snorted.

“What?”

“She _is_ lovely. But you, my friend, are full of bantha shit.”

Wedge looked mildly offended. “About what?”

Leia gave him a sideways look. “Look at me.”

“I _am_ looking at you.” It was true that Leia was decidedly more…disheveled than was typical for her, but Wedge wasn’t just being nice. Her dark hair was pulled back in a loose braid, and she was wearing soft leggings and an oversized man’s shirt, which Wedge was pretty sure was one of Solo’s. She looked exhausted, but she also looked kind of radiant and relaxed and pretty at the same time.

Leia was not buying it. “Wedge. I’m still huge, my hair is a mess, I have spit-up on my shirt, and I haven’t showered in…” she thought for a moment. “When did Luke leave?”

“Two days ago.”

“Three days, then.”

Wedge raised his eyebrow at her. “Now, _Commander_ ,” he chided in his familiar teasing tone, “that’s no way to bring all the boys to the hangar.”

He got the sly grin he was hoping for. “I don’t know, I seem to be doing all right,” she said. “Or is this a pity flirt?”

He grinned at her. “Never a pity flirt for you.” He inclined his head toward the ‘fresher. “You want me to watch her while you get freshened up?”

“You sure?”

“The Rogues can do without me taking their money for a little while longer. It’ll just make it more satisfying when I clean ‘em out.”

She rolled her eyes at him and disappeared into the ‘fresher.

She returned a while later, braiding her wet hair. She was still dressed casually, but had traded her stained shirt for…another one of Solo’s shirts, it appeared.

“Do you need me to go, so that you can get some sleep?” Wedge asked.

“NO.” Leia was oddly vehement with her answer. “Sorry. Can you stay for a little bit? I just want to feel like a person again for awhile,” she said.

“Missing adult company?”

Leia smiled and nodded. “Lilya has many fine qualities, but she’s not much of a conversationalist.” She paused, as if she were considering something, then got up and went to her locker. “Have a drink with me.”

She spent a minute frowning at the contents of the locker, then pulled out a bottle with a worn label and poured two glasses, handing one to Wedge.

“To Lilya,” Wedge suggested. Leia nodded, and they clinked glasses before taking a drink.

Leia made a face and shuddered. Wedge nearly spit out his drink.

“No offense, Leia, but what in nine hells _is_ this shit?”

“Oh, thank the Goddess. I thought it tasted bad because I haven’t had alcohol in awhile.”

Wedge grimaced. “No. It’s horrible. Seriously. It’s worse that that shit Janson keeps trying to push on us. Is this lighter fluid or something?”

Leia held up the bottle. Old Rathtar rum.

_Not exactly the preferred drink of the royal house of Alderaan_. “Where did you get it?”

Leia looked sheepish. “I took it from the _Falcon_.”

“Does Han use it to clean engine parts?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I kind of took it for sentimental reasons.”

Wedge looked at her dubiously.

“Well, you know that we spent almost six weeks traveling from Hoth to Bespin.”

“Yeah?”

“We made the good alcohol last for about 4½ weeks. And then we started drinking…this.”

Wedge shuddered, then made a decision. “You’re coming to sabacc. We’re going to get some decent alcohol in you if it kills me.” He grinned at her. “Plus, everyone misses you.”

“I can’t leave Lilya.”

“Bring her with us. And if she gives you any trouble, I’ll just…work my baby whisperer magic.”

Leia smiled. “Okay.”

“Oh, and Commander?” he said, “Give that…rocket fuel back to Chewie. We’re going to make sure you have some decent liquor to keep at your quarters for your gentleman callers. Oh, and for Han.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @yunmin, I couldn't make you wait any longer.
> 
> BTW, it was quite a feat trying to find a Star Wars version of a burrito to describe Wedge's swaddling technique. 
> 
> Also, Han's going to be really confused when he returns to find that Leia has stolen all his shirts for maternity/nursing wear.


	5. Let the Wookiee Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eyes up here, Lando.

Luke had lost count of how many times Leia had rolled her eyes at one of Lando’s remarks. Lando was really laying it on thick with the attempted flirting this evening, and they were barely into their first hand of sabacc.

Of course, it would help if Lando would quit addressing his statements to Leia’s breasts. Sure, you’d have to be blind not to notice that certain things had gotten… _larger_ since she had had Lilya three weeks ago, but she was a nursing mother, for Force’s sake. Even with as rude as the Rogues usually got, none of them was spending the game staring at her chest.

Actually, they seemed as bothered by Lando’s staring as Luke was, taking turns shooting Lando angry looks as he became mesmerized by cleavage. “Look alive, Calrissian,” Tycho sniped.

Wedge, meanwhile, was getting a much warmer reception from Leia. Somehow, he managed to add a little flirtation to their friendly banter without it seeming gross, or like he was trying to take Han’s place. And Leia gave as well as she got, which encouraged the other Rogues to join in. Luke did notice that Wedge and Leia had toned it down a notch tonight, probably in deference to Chewbacca’s presence.

Yes, Chewie was there. Which was another reason Lando needed to stop leering at Leia.

Leia actually went bust on the first hand, which was a rarity for her in sabacc. As they started the next hand, Lando tried to use that to his advantage. “Well, Leia, if you ever want some private lessons…” he purred. Her eyes rolled so hard it almost looked painful.

<<That’s it! Get out! Go do the maintenance on those shields!>> roared Chewie.

“What?”

<<You are being very disrespectful to Little Princess and her mate!>>

Lando put his hands up, trying to reason with Chewie. “I wasn’t doing anything; it’s just a little harmless flirting!”

<<GET OUT!>>

The Rogues’ eyes went wide. Luke was astounded that Chewie’s roar had failed to wake Lilya, who was still asleep on Luke’s shoulder.

Lando continued to try to defend himself. “Oh, c’mon, Chewie. Antilles has been flirting with her all night, and you don’t yell at him!”

Luke was pretty sure he could actually see the blood draining from Wedge’s face. Leia gave Wedge a reassuring look: _Don’t worry, I won’t let Chewie kill you._

<<Antilles respects Little Princess and her mate. And _he_ didn’t invite us to lunch with Darth kriffing Vader! >>

“How many times do I have to apologize for that?”

<<Betrayal has consequences!>> Chewie roared.

Lando put his cards down and backed away from the table. He opened his mouth to protest again, and Chewie repeated his roar.

After he left, Leia put her hand gently on Chewie’s paw. “Thank you. But you didn’t need to do that. I can handle Lando.”

<<Betrayal has consequences,>> repeated Chewie softly. Leia patted his paw and went back to her cards.

The Rogues still looked terrified. It belatedly occurred to Luke that they had no idea what Chewie had said.

Luke smirked. “I think I already know who’s going to win this hand.”


	6. The Toast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a difficult day. Luke brings some friends to help Leia carry on an important tradition.

“Little bird, flying over the mountain,  
Little bird, wings over the sea,  
Little bird, when you hear me calling,  
Little bird, fly home to me…”

Lilya cooed up at her mother, who was softly singing the Alderaani lullaby Bail used to sing to her. They were interrupted by a knock.  
  
“Ah, there’s your Uncle Luke.” Leia blinked away the tears that had been rising and went to answer the door.

Luke had a funny look on his face. “So, I hope you don’t mind, but I brought… reinforcements.”

Carlist Rieekan appeared in the doorway. “Princess,” he said, kissing her cheek and entering the room behind Luke. Wedge immediately followed.

Leia was genuinely surprised. “What—“

Luke was smiling broadly. “You mean, why do you have an Alderaanian, a Corellian, and a Jedi at your door?”

Leia laughed for the first time today. “That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.”

“I know, that’s why I said it that way.” Luke grinned. “I needed someone who had stories—“ he nodded at Rieekan “—and someone who was familiar with Corellian drinking customs—“ he nodded at Wedge.

“Chewie sent you.” Leia finally realized what was happening and sent a silent thank you to her Wookiee friend. He’d left two days ago to take Lando to Tatooine, but he’d remembered _._

“I understand we have an important tradition to uphold in Han’s absence,” Luke said.

 

* * *

 

** Two years ago… **

General Rieekan was responding to an unusual message. Captain Solo’s Wookiee companion had requested to see him, right away. He’d even brought that annoying protocol droid to translate.

“Chewbacca,” Rieekan greeted, shaking his hand. “What can I do for you?”

What Threepio translated made him immediately follow the Wookiee back to the _Falcon_.

Rieekan had heard that today’s fight had been somewhat exceptional, but he hadn’t really thought much about it. For the most part, he ignored Solo and the Princess’s constant squabbling. It was obviously a prelude to…something, but that wasn’t going to resolve itself until one of them gave in.

Or until Solo made good on his constant threats to leave. As he apparently was about to, right this minute, on the worst possible day.

This day – that was probably why she had pushed him so far, why the fight had been so bad. Tomorrow, it was likely that the Princess would be back to more of her usual self, but today—well, Carlist could understand. He just hoped that Solo could, too.

When Carlist reached the _Falcon_ , Solo tried to play their departure off as unrelated to the fight. “Nothin’ personal, General, just gotta pay off my debts before more of ‘em come looking for me. No time like the present.” He began walking away, to do final checks on the ship before takeoff.

Rieekan decided he had to level with him. “Solo,” he called after him, ”it’s her father’s birthday.”

Han stopped in his tracks. He turned around.

Rieekan approached him. “Look, I know whatever happened today was bad. She’s not herself. She and Bail—they were very close.”

Han listened, but didn’t say anything.

“I can appreciate that you have some pretty heavy obligations. I’m not asking you to stay indefinitely. Just – not today. Just don’t leave her today.”

Han paused for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. You got two days.”

 

* * *

 

** One year ago…. **

Chewbacca was puzzled. It had seemed like Little Princess and Cub had finally started to reach some kind of understanding. The arguing had stopped, and he had walked in on a number of kissing sessions in the last week, enough times that he had started coming up with excuses to leave the _Falcon’s_ lounge so they could have some privacy.

But today, it was like they had moved back to square one. He’d heard them having a shouting match in the galley that morning, and it had only gotten worse from there.

Apparently Cub couldn’t make sense of it either. Chewbacca caught him pounding his head against a bulkhead after dinner. “I just don’t know what in seven hells is goin’ on today,” he muttered.

<<That was quite a fight this morning. Even back at the base you didn’t fight like that.>>

“Yeah. ‘Cept that one time, the day we almost le—“ Cub seemed to realize something. “Chewie, what’s the date?”

He showed Cub the chrono.

“Meet me in the lounge in 10 minutes. And bring the good whiskey.”

Little Princess seemed to have come to the lounge under protest, but somehow Cub had gotten her there. She scowled as Cub poured three glasses of whiskey.

“What, you think you’re going to get me drunk and I’ll fall into bed with you?”

Cub laughed. “Well, if that was the plan, it would be a waste to have Chewie here. We don’t have that kind of relationship.”

Chewie gave Cub a look. _This is not helping._

Cub looked at Little Princess more seriously. “’Sides, I ain’t into sleeping with people who are too drunk to know what they’re doing.“

Little Princess nodded a little at that.

Cub held up his glass. “All right. We’re here so I can teach you how to do a traditional Corellian memory toast.”

Little Princess looked up at him with a spark of interest.

“Now, most planets remember their dead when they die, which is all well and good, but Corellians are about living. So this is a birthday toast. Every year, we toast, and we tell stories, so we can remember the person we loved. How they lived. Chewie here knows I do one for my mother.”

That was true, although Cub generally avoided making a big deal about it. Chewie was pretty sure that before he came along, it was just Cub drinking alone on that day.

Cub looked at Little Princess. “With your permission—Leia, can we toast your father today?”

 

* * *

 

** Back to the present…. **

“So essentially this toast is an excuse to drink a bunch of whiskey and tell stories?” Luke asked. There wasn’t really room for them all in Leia’s sitting area, so they had moved to Rieekan’s more spacious quarters down the hall. Lilya was currently sleeping on Rieekan’s shoulder.

Wedge laughed. “Essentially. But the emphasis is on how the person lived, all the things that made them, them. The funnier or more embarrassing the story, the better. It’s not all about heroics.”

“So you’re saying that you’d rather hear about Bail trying to run an interrogation of Leia’s first boyfriend, rather than his work on the Alliance?” Rieekan asked.

“Oh, that’s a good story,” Leia said. “You should definitely tell that one. Poor Raal.”

Rieekan did tell that story, as well as one about the time Bail mysteriously started demanding that Carlist taste his kaffe each morning.

“Are you concerned about poisoning?” Carlist had asked with alarm.

“I’m concerned about peppermint,” Bail had responded. Apparently Winter and Leia had located a brand of kaffe flavored with peppermint, and regularly managed to switch Bail’s plain kaffe with what Bail referred to as “that infernal mint” on random days each week.

In fact, many of the stories that both Leia and Carlist told were about Bail’s reactions to being pranked or thwarted by his daughter. At one point, Bail had lamented to Carlist, after Leia had slipped her security detail for the umpteenth time, “Can’t they put a bell on her or something?”

Leia laughed. “That’s a very Father sort of phrase. He used to threaten to do that when I was little, too, only that was more because I kept sneaking up on him in his study and startling him.”

“When he was trying to work on his maps?” Bail had collected examples of ancient cartography and had often pored over them in his spare time.

Leia nodded. “That’s how I figured out he was working for the Alliance. I was snooping around in his office and found some documents mixed in with his maps.”

“Is it just me,” said Wedge, “or are we all learning about the secret subversive childhood of Princess Leia?”

“It’s not just you,” said Luke.

“I was well acquainted,” said Carlist. He nodded at the sleeping baby on his shoulder. “Lelila, in a few years it’s going to be payback time. Get ready.”

“And she’s a Solo,” put in Luke. “Even more payback.”

Leia laughed and shook her head. “You know, it wasn’t all pranks and subversion.” She told a couple of sweet stories about Bail, including one in which five-year-old Leia very proudly gave him a necklace she had made herself and asked him to wear it. With great dignity, and to her great delight, he wore the glitter-and-bead-encrusted jewelry for a public speech the following day.

“The holos called him ‘Viceroy Glitter’ for about a week after that,” noted Carlist.

A few stories later, the evening was winding down, and Leia thanked her friends for continuing the tradition that Han had started with her.

“I should point out one very important thing,” Wedge said, “In case you ever want to do this toast for other people. This toast is specifically for the dead. It is incredibly bad luck to do it for a person who is still living. There are other toasts for that.”

Leia turned to Luke. “And you thought Chewie and I were overreacting.”

“You tried to send Lando out the airlock!”

“I wasn’t actually going to _do_ it,” Leia protested.

“I think Chewie would have. If I hadn’t used the Force to keep it closed.”

“Wait, you almost put Calrissian out the airlock?” asked Rieekan.

Wedge also looked alarmed. “Calrissian tried to toast a living person with the memory toast?”

“He started to toast Han with it after he was frozen,” Leia explained.

Wedge looked angry. “Yeah, I’m with Chewie on this one.”

Rieekan simply shook his head.


	7. Leia and Lando

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know, you can be quite charming when you’re not staring at my chest or handing me over to the Empire. I might even like you.” 
> 
> Leia and Lando have had an awkward relationship. They reach an understanding over an afternoon at the blaster range.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild trigger warning for this chapter -- there is (non-graphic) reference to past sexual assault.

“So, I’ve been thinking about how we get Chewie into Jabba’s.”

Shara Bey was supposed to have gone with Leia to the blaster range today, but got called away on a last minute mission. Lando had been rather surprised when Leia had actually taken him up on his offer to accompany her instead.

He'd heard Leia’s statement, but he paused, his eyes on the target. He fired several shots, then turned back to her. “You got a plan?” _Stupid question. Leia always has a plan_.

“I think we’re making this too complicated. Jabba has a bounty on Chewie; we send in a bounty hunter with him to collect.” She took her turn, firing several shots.

Lando smirked. “I know you’re not going to trust an actual bounty hunter with Chewie. So, what? You going to get one of your Rogue Squadron boyfriends to go undercover?”

Leia ignored the jab, shaking her head. “Rogue Squadron is needed for the Alliance. We can’t take them away from their missions here.”

Lando was momentarily confused. “Not Luke.” The kid was good, but not really the bounty hunter type. Plus, Luke was pretty set on working the Jedi angle. Leia shook her head again.

“So, who?”

Leia looked at Lando, raising an eyebrow. Without breaking her gaze, she turned her blaster to the firing range and shot. Dead on, kill shot.

_Oh, no_. “No. No, Leia. You cannot.”

“You said it yourself. Who else?”

Lando looked at her seriously. “Look, it’s not that I don’t think you could do it. You’re clearly…more than capable. But we can’t take the risk of you getting caught. I’ve seen how Jabba works. It’s not pretty.”

Leia gave a rueful laugh. “I didn’t think it would be.”

“Leia— it would be bad enough if me or Luke got caught. But you— it’s different. I’ve seen what Jabba does to female prisoners.”

Leia looked at him, her expression steady.

He tried to explain. “It’s—Leia, it’s a whole other _league_ of bad. It’s assault. It’s humiliation. And they’re not going to give a shit that you’re a princess.”

“Neither did the Empire.” Leia’s voice had a tinge of bitterness to it. 

Lando stared at her.

“Wouldn’t be my first time at that kind of party,” she said quietly, her expression hard.

Lando was newly horrified. _Gods, no wonder she hates me_.

Leia seemed to sense what he was thinking, and shook her head. “Not at Bespin. On the Death Star.” Not that Bespin had been any picnic, being tortured and then made to watch Han as he was tortured.

She turned back to the firing range and shot five blasts into the target. _She’s hardly missed a shot all afternoon – why did she need to practice again_? Lando wondered. Then it occurred to him: _Maybe she needed to blast something_.

Still, he felt compelled to dissuade her from this idea. He tried a different tack. “What about Lilya?”

“Lilya deserves to know her father,” she replied flatly. “We need Chewie in the mix if we’re going to get Han out of there.” She fired a couple of final shots. “You got a better idea?”

Lando smiled at her. “I actually like the bounty hunter idea. It’s simple, it’s good. Just not sold on you being the one to do it.” He paused. “And you’re never going to talk Chewie into it.”

She smiled back. “We’ll see. Han’s talked him into worse. And I can be much more persuasive.”

Lando chuckled. “That you can.”

She put her blaster away. “Okay, I think we’re done here. Let’s go have a drink.”

Lando was taken aback. “With _me_?” 

Leia laughed. “You see someone else here? Besides,” she said, grinning at him slyly, “haven’t you been trying to get me alone over a drink since the day we met?”

Lando grinned back, but he was wary. “This a trap, Princess?”

“Nope. Just a drink,” she replied. “And you’re buying. The Rogues think you probably have a wet bar installed in the _Falcon_ by now. I want to see if they’re right.”

* * *

 

In fact, Lando _had_ managed to collect quite a store of decent booze over the last several months, although he hadn’t literally installed a bar. Frankly, he was afraid to do anything that implied he was making any kind of claim on the _Falcon_.

Now, sitting in the _Falcon_ ’s lounge, he was astounded to be having not just a civil conversation with the Princess, but a friendly one. Over the last ten months, she’d defended his actions in Bespin to the Alliance, sent him on a number of missions with Chewie, and allowed him to be one of Lilya’s adoring uncles, but there had always been an undercurrent of anger and mistrust beneath her interactions with him, polite as they might be. He’d tried to charm and flirt his way out of it – that tended to work, for most women – but Leia Organa was not most women, he was discovering.

But now, they were almost acting like…friends? He’d been telling her a story about how he and Chewie had gotten out of a tough spot on a recent mission when he caught Leia looking at him with an appraising eye.

She smiled. “You know, you can be quite charming when you’re not staring at my chest or handing me over to the Empire. I might even like you.”

Lando’s old instincts took over, and he started to give her a flirtatious look, cocking his eyebrow.

“But don’t push it.”

He laughed.

She sipped her drink thoughtfully. “You’ve known Han a long time.”

“Yeah, I have.” He sensed a question coming on.

“How do you think he’s going to react…to Lilya?”

Lando grinned. “You mean, do I think there’s going to be a Han-shaped hole in the durasteel when he finds out he has a kid?”

She smiled back. “Something like that.”

He sat back, chuckling thoughtfully. “Well, the short answer is, no. Even the old Han wouldn’t have run out on a kid. He didn’t have the greatest childhood, you know.”

Leia nodded. “Yeah, he told me a little about that.”

“Anyway, not only that, but— Han really changed,” Lando reflected. “From before, I mean. When you guys showed up— he was still Han, but he was different.” He looked at her seriously. “He’s really in love with you, Leia. I’ve never seen him like that before. And I’m not saying that to flatter you or bullshit you in any way.”

Leia looked down at her glass for a minute, then took a breath and took another drink before looking up again. 

Lando smiled gently. “He’s in love with you, and he’s going to be in love with his little girl, too. He’ll still be a little freaked out. You know Han. But he’ll deal.” He took another drink. “What did Chewie say?”

“Chewie mostly answered the question by grumbling about what an idiot Han was if he wasn’t overjoyed at having a baby. Then he went off about how he could kick Han’s ass for me if he needed to. So—sweet, but not particularly helpful.” 

Lando laughed. “Chewie thinks you need to outsource kicking Han’s ass? I’m pretty sure you’re capable of taking care of that yourself.”

That got another smile from Leia. “Don’t send a Wookiee to do a woman’s job,” she said, with a bit of a twinkle in her eye.

_Hold on. Did Leia Organa actually just flirt with me?_ Lando smiled. But he decided not to push his luck.


	8. Clear Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia prepares to leave for Tatooine, and gets quite the sendoff.

“That should be it,” Leia said to Kara, Lilya’s caretaker, handing over the last of the supplies she’d brought.

Leia realized she was stalling, which was not like her before a mission. She’d left Lilya before, for a couple of short supply runs and minor missions, and was more a fan of what her friend Shara referred to as the “bacta patch” approach – a quick good-bye, like ripping off a bacta patch in one go. But she’d never left Lilya for something this long. Or dangerous.

“We’ll be fine,” Kara said, moving to take Lilya from Leia, then hesitating when she saw the look on the Princess’s face. “You want a minute?” Leia nodded, and Kara went to put the supplies away.

_I don’t know how to do this_ , Leia thought, looking at her daughter’s little face. It felt too much like the day she’d said goodbye to Bail before boarding the _Tantive IV_. _The last time I tried to go to Tatooine_ , she thought. That day, like this one, had been such a cluster of mixed emotions. It seemed unreal – _we’re going to bring Han back_ – and so uncertain – _I might never see Lilya again_ – all at the same time.

Mon Mothma’s visit last night had only underlined those thoughts. She’d visited last night to avoid attracting attention to their departure today. Supposedly, Leia and Chewie were leaving on a routine supply run; the mission to rescue Han didn’t officially exist, although it had been funded as a covert action through Alliance Intelligence.

Mon had surprised Leia by actually supporting her decision to be a part of the mission. “I’m sure there are those who think your place is here with your daughter,” she’d said. “And I’m not thrilled that you’re putting yourself in such a dangerous place. But I trust your judgment, Leia.”

And then Mon had brought up her father. “You know, Bail used to remind us, in the early days, that we weren’t risking our lives for some kind of abstract thing. We were fighting for real people. For their lives. And he would want you to fight for whatever happiness you could find in your life.”

Leia smoothed Lilya's hair gently. “I see a lot of you in her,” Mon had said; everyone said that about Lilya. “But I see quite a bit of Captain Solo as well,” she’d continued. “Do what you need to do. We’ll look out for her.”

There was too much to say, so much that it was literally impossible to say to a four-month-old child. Leia wished she could write her love for Lilya on her daughter’s heart, make her feel it so clearly that she would always know that love, whether Leia ever saw her again or not.

In the end, Leia kept it simple. “I love you, Lilya. I always will. I’m going to get your father, and I will do everything I can to bring him back to us,” she said. Then Leia kissed her, handed her to Kara, and left to walk toward the hangar where Chewie would be waiting.

 

* * *

 

As it turned out, Chewie was not the only one waiting by the _Falcon_. Rogue Squadron was in full force when she arrived.

Leia smiled at them, shaking her head. “I thought you all sent me off last night. I’m surprised you were able to get up so early.” The sabacc game had shown no signs of winding down when Leia had left.

Janson looked sheepish. “Uh…some of us…may not have exactly gone to bed yet.”

Carlist Rieekan walked up as Leia was hugging the Rogues. “My,” he said, “this is quite the crowd for a routine supply run.”

Now Leia shook her head at him. “Yes, it _is_ quite the sendoff. _General_ ,” she said pointedly, as Rieekan wasn’t exactly known for overseeing minor missions. He smiled.

“I won’t wish you luck, Lelila,” he said, kissing her cheek. “But may the Force be with you.” She hugged him gratefully.

The Rogues were taking turns shaking Chewie’s paw and wishing him well. “I’d ask you to look out for her,” said Tycho, “but I know I don’t have to.” Chewie growled his thanks, and went into the ship to prepare for takeoff.

Wedge lingered outside the _Falcon_ with Leia as Rieekan and the rest of the Rogues dispersed. “Commander,” he said.

She smiled. “Commander.”

“Don’t worry about the little Corellian,” he said, referring to Lilya. “She’ll get plenty of attention while you’re gone.”

“I told Kara you and the Rogues had offered to help with babysitting.”

“We already worked out a schedule.”

Leia raised her eyebrow.

He grinned. “Hey, I gotta get an edge in the favorite uncle competition somehow. I’m up against a Jedi and a Wookiee.” Leia laughed.

Her expression turned more serious, and she took Wedge’s hand.

“Wedge—thank you. For everything. Just—thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “Tell Solo he’s a damned lucky bastard. And bring him back here so I can yell at him for teaching you to play sabacc.”

She smiled. “I will.”

Wedge still had hold of her hand. “Commander, am I going to have to stop flirting with you when he gets back?”

“Gods, I hope not,” she laughed.

They smiled at each other for a long moment, in silence.

<<Little Princess, if you two are done making out down there, we can get on with rescuing your mate,>> Chewie roared good-naturedly from inside the _Falcon_.

Wedge looked at Leia quizzically.

“You don’t want to know,” she said.

Wedge squeezed her hand and let it go. “Clear skies, Commander. See you soon.”

 

* * *

 

<<There’s still time to change your mind, Little Princess,>> Chewie said later, in the _Falcon_.

“Chewie.” She gave him a sideways glance. “We have about twenty minutes before we drop out of hyperspace and into the Tatooine system. I’d say that the decision was made quite some time ago.”

The Wookiee shrugged. <<Figured it was worth one more try.>>


End file.
